What Could Have Been?
by aishwarya.vaithyanathan
Summary: What would have happened if Lilly and James didnt die. Story Starts a few months after war. Sirius/Amelia, Remus/OC. Hope you enjoy! Read and Review! Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. Nothing else. Hope you enjoy the story

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN…?

"Lilly!" James cried. "Come in here soon! I can't find harry"

"What did you just say, James Potter?" a very angry Lilly Potter stormed into their room. "Hahahaha! Just kidding Lills he's right here. Look!"She looked at a drooling and giggling Harry sitting in the crib and waving at his mother. He had just turned 18 months last week and already started calling out to them. His first words were shocking to everyone though…

James remembered that day as clear as crystal. He, Sirius and Remus had just returned home from the ministry after a long day's work. Lily invited the remaining marauders for dinner at their place. Harry had been sitting in the high chair at the table drooling all over his freshly changed dress. All of them were chatting about the day's events when they heard a sudden "Mooey" and a giggle. Sirius' jaws dropped, James was hyperventilating and Remus and Lily just had the most Slytherin smirks on their faces. "No Harry, its Pad-Foot! Say again P-A-D-F-O-O-T" "Mooey!" Harry giggled again. "James, there's something wrong with your kid. He needs to sort out his priorities. I'm supposed to be his GODFATHER and he's supposed to say my name! James I demand and explanation!" "Calm down Padfoot, he'll come around!" said Remus, still smirking with pride. "Caam dow P-A-A-F-U" harry giggled again. "Ah! Ha! At last!" Sirius was happy dancing in the drawing room of the Potter's cottage at Godric's Hollow.

After the fanfare at dinner, the group settled to have a little late evening chat. Sirius was planning to propose Amelia soon and get on with his life; Remus had just been promoted as the Head of the Department of Magical Creatures.

"Mate, lunch is on me tomorrow" said Sirius enthusiastically.

"Alright! I'd like to call it a night and get into bed early. We've a big day tomorrow at the ministry with regard to the case of the Death Eaters." James turned to Lily and said,

"Turns out you were right after all Lills. Snivellus is on our side. He came into my office this morning and gave me a list of a few deaths –eaters who are still out on the run."

"Lilly Smiled at him and said, "Didn't I tell you, he's always had a thing for you James, though he'd never consciously accept it. I had to spike his drink one day to get that information out of him!" and started laughing out loud which made baby harry to stir in his sleep on her lap.

"Off to bed now all of you," Lilly said, and turned around to tuck in Harry into his crib. It was hand-crafted first grade teak wood, which had been in the Potter family since the 1400s.

In the meantime, Harry's whining brought back James to the present. He picked up his little son and tried to soothe him down but nothing worked. He handed over him to Lilly to be tended to. James had been working day and night for the perfect Christmas present for harry. Even though Harry was only two years old and christmas was a long time away, James was stubborn enough to get it anyway. He'd gotten harry his own Quidditch set for which he got an earful from Lilly. Nevertheless, Lilly was impressed that James was making progress with his son. James had been throwing tantrums like the two year old he had because Lilly was dedicating all her time to Harry. It took him a few days to realise that it was his son-born to the love of his life.

After Harry had been put to sleep, Lilly and James had some quite time together at their backyard, enjoying the warm summer afternoon. Lilly leaned into James and kissed his cheeks and smiled at him affectionately. She was reading a muggle novel and James was just contemplating about things at work. They sat there in comfortable silence. Until they heard the bickering of two adults in their hallways. James rushed to silence them to prevent Harry from waking. At just 2 years of age, Harry was a very light sleeper just like his mother. It was Sirius and Amelia at the door shouting on top each other's voice. James wordlessly cast a silencing charm on the couple and looked at them expectantly.

"James, I'm done with this mad woman. Ask her now or I will!" said Sirius rather composed.

"Is that why you showed up with a ring in hand?" she asked, smirking. Before she could attack Sirius,

James intervened and said "Isn't this something you should be discussing within the walls of your bedroom?"

"But then, I wouldn't be able to ask you to be my best man if we were at home, would i!" exclaimed Sirius.

James just gaped at his best friend. Just then, Lilly walked in with a wailing Harry in her arms. "Hey my Matron of Honour" Amelia greeted Lilly. Lilly almost dropped the baby.

"The both of you, broke into our house, woke up my baby and terrorized each other, only to inform us that you're getting married?" Lilly asked with unhidden irritation in her voice.

The newly engaged couple roared with laughter and confirmed that they were indeed getting married and wanted to inform the Potters first. Just then, a very pale looking Remus entered their home.

"Bella proposed" he breathed.

Sirius who was all the while laughing stopped suddenly and stared at his friend.

"Oh! You have company…I guess...I...uh..I'll come by later then" Remus stammered nervously… Sirius just grabbed him by the collar and asked "What did you just say?"

"Nothing important as of now Sirius, I'll see you later. Now, Let. Me. Go" Remus shoved Sirius out of the way and started for the door. Just then he heard James say "I think it's time Mooney. He should know."

"Alright! I'm marrying Bellatrix Black"

"Bella as in my cousin?" Sirius asked with awe. When Remus nodded, Sirius just left without another word or glance...

Please do Read and Review...Im still new at this and all suggestions are welcome. this is just the first chapter. Im working on the next ones and will update soon. Thanks Alot!


	2. Chapter 2: Remus' Love

**Diclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to J.K.R.**

**CHAPTER II: Remus' Love**

(Remus's point of view)

"It's been three days Bells" whined Remus to his love. "This is the first time in our lives that we've gone without talking to each other for more than an hour. This is the guy who called me during our NEWTs exam to say Hi!" Remus was pacing in his girlfriend- now fiancé's- drawing room. He'd hidden his relationship from his friends in the past years until James caught the pair at a muggle restaurant. It wasn't that he didn't want to hide anything from his friends; he was just worried about his Bella's safety.

Remus and Bellatrix were together from their 6th year at Hogwarts. It was only because of Remus that she didn't join the Death-Eaters along with Snape. Since she was a slytherin, there wasn't much conversation between the pair. They exchanged letters all day long and spent quite evenings in the library enjoying the company of the other as much as they could. He was the only one who saw her for who she really was. She was smart, passionate and at the same time, killingly beautiful. For him, she was the first person other than James and Sirius to find out about his lycanthropy. She also did not scorn him because of his condition. The more she associated with him; she found him to be shy yet funny, intelligent and a handsome chap. She accepted him for who he was-as he did her. And due to the war, they did not wish to publicize their relationship. In times of danger, they would escape into the muggle world.

After completing their education, Bella moved to muggle London to start her own fashion line 'Bellup Collections', which was an instant hit. She took private owl orders from a few magical customers and international clients. Remus worked at the ministry and stayed at his childhood home. He always spent his weekends with his lady love in muggle London. He'd been carrying a ring with him for a few months now.

On one of their dates, she out right asked him.

"Will you just marry me already? I've known about the ring for 3weeks now Remus" she stated smugly. He gaped at her in surprise but let it go and got down on one knee.

"Crazy Woman, I've been in love with you since our 5th year at Hogwarts and from then to now you have grown in to a fine young lady whom I'd like to spend the rest of my life taking care of and grow old with. I want to come home to you after a long day's work, sleep in your warmth and wake up to you for as long as I live. Will you marry me my Bella?" he asked.

"You made me cry you prick! Nevertheless, since you proposed, I will accept to marry you my werewolf" she answered him with a soul searing kiss, full on the lips, in front of lots of people.

"How did you know about the ring Bells?" Remus asked bewildered. "You talk in your sleep" she replied matter-of-factly. "Why didn't you tell me you wicked witch?" Remus asked incredulously.

Her voice brought him back to reality.

"Remy, it's been a week since you came home. And you came today because I threatened to tell them."

"Bells, Sirius isn't talking to me. I've been trying to contact him all week and he doesn't even seem to acknowledge my presence at work. "

"James didn't throw a fit when he caught us." She argued. "Bells, James is a different person now. He's married and has a kid of his own. You yourself can see that he has changed a lot after marriage."

"Baby, just talk to them. Invite them for dinner-both Sirius and James- along with their family, this weekend and we can sort it out. It's been a long while since I met with my dear cousin." Bellatrix consoled him.

In the meantime, Sirius had been having a tough time adjusting to the information his best friend had just told them. He was holding his coffee for the past 20 mins and was staring at the floor at James' home.

"How long has it been Siri?" asked Lilly, very concerned for her friend.

"3 days." Replied Sirius emotionlessly.

"Whats the use of not talking Sirius? Even we didn't know about it until James ran into them at a muggle restaurant. He asked us to keep it a secret because of the threats of the remaining death-eaters. And this was just last week." Lilly said with evident sadness in her voice.

James had taken harry to the backyard to play in the swings. Recently, harry had been very restless and was becoming very tough to handle. harry was sitting in the small swing with James absently pushing him in the air and thinking about the day he ran into Remus and Bellatrix.

**_FLASHBACK_**

_It'd been a busy day at work. There were many leads for the location of the death-eaters. Some were even muggle areas. James took up the task of checking a few muggle places. He and a colleague were walking in one of the busy streets of London. They decided to take a small coffee break and walked into a near-by café. When they entered, James saw his best friend holding the hands of a possible death-eater and whispering sweet nothings in to her ears in one of the corner tables. She was giggling and whispering back to him. He looked obviously in love with her. Just then, Remus caught James' eye._

_"__Explain" James said._

_"__We're together. Since 6__th__ year." Gulped Remus._

_"__Why?" James asked._

_"__I had to protect her James. They disowned her. Just like Sirius. I had to protect her from her own family and the death-eaters." Remus replied looking at the ground._

_"__Mooney," James sighed. Remus visibly relaxed at the mention of his nickname. "I appreciate your protectiveness for her but what about us? Aren't we family? We've always been there for you Remus. Why did you hide it from us? Did you even consider how much this will hurt Sirius? Or what will you tell Lilly or Minerva for that matter? Hell! How are you gonna convince me Remus?" James almost shouted at his best friend._

_"__Please let me explain. I have every reason to keep this a secret. I wanted to tell you as soon as I left today. We were talking about that all evening. She's the one who's pestering me to tell all of you" Remus pleaded._

_"__Just because I'm happy for you, doesn't mean I'm forgiving you Mooney." James hugged his best friend and turned to leave the restaurant._

**_END FLASHBACK_**

James was shaking his head to come back to he present. He picked up little harry and made his way into his house. He saw that Lilly and Sirius were still deep in conversation. He could sense the betrayal in Sirius' eyes and see the sadness in Lilly's voice.

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